Jason Spezza

The New York Islanders hosted the visiting Dallas Stars tonight at Nassau Coliseum, hoping to take advantage of a team that played on the road last night. They may not be able to say that they did just that, but Frans Nielsen's hat trick helped propel the Islanders to a 7-5 win on home ice.

The first period started with a quick tempo pace from both teams, as they both got plenty of chances early in the game. Chad Johnson was forced to make a sprawling save on a breakaway, and Anders Lindback had plenty of traffic in front for the first twenty.

The traffic in his crease would eventually lead to the first goal by the Isles. Brock Nelson fed the puck to Calvin de Haan at the far side of the Stars’ blue line before letting go of a wrist-shot that was redirected behind Lindback by Anders Lee for his first goal of the year.

The Islanders host the Dallas Stars Saturday night at the Nassau Coliseum as they look to win their second game in a row coming off a thrilling victory Thursday night in Boston. (Image credit: flickr/ chiefx70)

After the last two overtime losses for the Flyers left them with frustrations in the skills competition, they were looking at a potential third straight shootout. But Claude Giroux scored 2 minutes, 49 seconds into overtime, completing a comeback 6-5 win.

It was the first win of the season for the Flyers. They avoided going winless in the first five games of the season for just the third time in franchise history with the win.

Dan Boyle seems to be weighing his options on whether to sign with the Islanders or not. According to sources he will not play with the Isles like Christian Ehrhoff and Tim Thomas who recently were in similar situations, but his agent says they will have a formal answer by the end of the week.

The Islanders wrap up the home slate of the season Tuesday night when the Ottawa Senators come to town. The Islanders will try to improve on their 13-18-9 home record before closing out the regular season on the road for their final three games. The Islanders have played better at home recently (3-0-1) but their failure to take advantage of home ice earlier in the year is a big reason why the Islanders will be watching the playoffs at home next week for the sixth time in their last seven seasons.

It's been the hot topic the last couple of days: Claude Giroux has finally scored a goal. The next question will be whether or not the struggling captain had awoken from his offensive slumber.

Giroux isn't the only one waking up. The Flyers scored four goals on Saturday, a feat they've only done twice this season. Can they keep it up during this three game road trip? Giroux and the Flyers will answer those question tonight in Ottawa.

Later this afternoon, the New York Islanders will take on the Ottawa Senators at the Nassau Coliseum. It will be the second of three meetings between the two Eastern Conference clubs.

Coming into the game with the worst home record in the NHL at 2-8-1, the Isles are looking to turn things around today against a team that has struggled to score but manages to stay afloat due to their stellar backup goaltenders.